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City Break Faves

#GetPacking with Contiki & Shopcade

Ok, so you’ve got a couple of days and the pressure’s on. You want to pack in as much [culture / shopping / sightseeing / food / nightlife] as your wallet and waking hours will allow. So, where do you go?

For shopping: New York

Let’s face it: strutting down Fifth Avenue carrying a bunch of bags just feels good (even if said bags are more flea market than Fifth Avenue – one can pretend, right?). But it’s not just the glittering designer labels that make New York a shopping haven: the high street brands are cheaper, the outlet stores are bountiful, and the flea markets are pretty awesome too.

Perhaps the best thing about Rome is that it is a cocktail of old and new: with its bustling trattorias beside Baroque fountains and countless scooters zipping past sprawling ruins. To see Rome is to peel back the layers of time – from the present to the Renaissance, the Roman Empire and beyond. Spend the day wandering among the ruins of Palatino Hill before hitting the bars of Trastevere across the Tiber.

Perhaps no other city demands your attention like Paris. It’s hard, even on repeated visits to the City of Lights, to resist the pull of the city’s classic sights. Light show on the Eiffel Tower? Can't miss it. Sunsets from Sacré Coeur? Can’t get enough. And no matter how often you go, there is always a wing of the gargantuan Louvre that you’ve yet to explore. Paris is a city to be revisited, as often as possible.

Madrid cannot be beat when it comes to museums and tapas. There are few things better than admiring a Picasso in the Prado and a Velazquez in the Reina Sofia before diving into a plate of chorizo or patatas bravas. Oh, and some sangria, naturally. Crispy squid? Definitely. We did do an awful lot of walking through those museums today...

As Matt Skinner (author and all round wine guy) once said, "In Melbourne, you’re more likely to be judged on where you go for coffee than how much you earn". In this cosmopolitan Aussie city, coffee and food are taken very seriously. Whether you’re treating yourself to one of Melbourne’s top restaurants or wandering the character-filled streets to discover a hidden gem, it’s highly unlikely you’ll be disappointed by this foodie’s paradise.